RG Steel building for sale at $900K

January 9, 2013

WHEELING - Those looking for a large amount of office space in the heart of downtown Wheeling have a new option - the former RG Steel building is for sale at $900,000.

The 1905 building, once the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel headquarters, is listed by Jay Goodman with Harvey Goodman Realtors. The structure, located at 1134 Market St., offers 144,000 square feet of space and has 13 floors. The real estate company describes the listing as a bankruptcy sale. The sale includes the furniture.

Goodman said since he got the listing in late December, he has received two serious inquiries: A Columbus-based company interested in renting it out as office space and a Detroit-based firm interested in using it for low- to moderate-income housing. He said another Pittsburgh company also has expressed interest in using the building for office space.

The realtor's online photos of the structure's interior show meeting rooms with furniture and an expansive view of the downtown and beyond from one of the building's highest floors. Goodman said the building is in "great shape" and listed at a low price - $6 per square foot.

"I've enjoyed having the listing so far. It's like walking through a museum, seeing the history of Wheeling-Pitt," he said, noting the top-floor boardroom includes framed photos of the steelmaking process. "Hopefully, it will be occupied again and be a part of the (downtown) revitalization. It would be great to have another RG-type operation, but I don't know if that's possible."

RG filed for bankruptcy on May 31. Esmark Inc. partnered with TCC Steel of South Korea to purchase RG's Yorkville plant for $4.7 million last year. Esmark once owned the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh assets until it sold them to OAO Severstal in 2008. Another RG asset, the Martins Ferry plant, was purchased for $2 million by Quay Mull, a Wheeling businessman, and lawyer Joseph Gompers. The Mingo Junction plant was purchased for $20 million by Frontier Industrial. And the Steubenville plant was purchased by Wheeling-based Herman Strauss Inc. recycling, which paid $4.3 million for the property and $10.7 million for the scrap and machinery at the site.